Soccer: Kilgore Bulldogs fall 2-1 to Community in regional final

Published 5:10 pm Wednesday, April 2, 2025

TERRELL — The Kilgore Bulldogs came up just short in Tuesday night’s Class 4A Division 1 Region 2 final, ending their season with a 2-1 loss to the Community Braves.

It was a dramatically windy evening, and for the first half of the game, the wind was in Kilgore’s favor. A couple of long passes got turned off course, but 33 minutes in and after two missed chances for Kilgore to score, freshman Ethan Reyes got a goal in from up close. They maintained the 1-0 lead to halftime, but Community came back ready for their turn to capitalize on the wind.

Seven minutes in to the second half, the Braves put a goal away after a corner kick play which rebounded off Kilgore goalkeeper Eddie Jimenez. Kilgore earned two corner kick attempts, and Jimenez had a big save in the next 15 minutes of play. The Braves got the winning goal with a long ball play that had the ball going just over Jimenez and then knocked in to the open net.

“They handled [the wind] as best they could. We wanted the wind first. And we tried to score [in the second half] and we just couldn’t will it in,” said Kilgore Head Coach Hector Peralez.

This season’s Bulldogs, a team with mostly underclassmen including 10 freshmen, finishes 21-4-1. It’s a record close to last year’s regional champions and state semifinalists, a team many of those underclassmen took inspiration from. They started the year wanting to live up to that team’s legacy, and after another district winning season and a long playoff gauntlet, it’s safe to say the younger Bulldogs showed their mettle.

“Yeah, they definitely have an identity of their own,” said Peralez. “They’re just a great group of boys and I love them very much. I didn’t want the season to end. I’m very proud them. They showed a lot of grit.”

Peralez added that he always knew that despite doubts anyone else had over their relative inexperience, he always knew this team could get as far as they wanted.

“Tonight was not our night. But we’re going to get better and we’ll get together and move on,” he said. “We try not to take our days for granted. We keep stacking them and try to act like there is no tomorrow. The good Lord willing the sun will rise tomorrow and if it keeps rising and we keep getting better, I think we have a good chance of making it this far again.”